[cottagebythesea]

Good Tuesday morning! My hot coffee is just fine for now, but I may want to switch to iced coffee this afternoon! The girls have swimming lessons at the club today, so it's going to be the perfect weather for it. I may actually get in the pool, too.

I picked some fresh, plump raspberries yesterday and am looking forward to having them with my oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast. With a steamy day predicted, I think a nice, big salad will fit the bill nicely for supper this evening.

How's your day shaping up?

[Ruthxxx]

We all slept in this morning and Paul is going to arrive in 15 minutes. I'll be back later once dressed and dogs fed.

[CyndiM]

Good morning early risers and those yet to rise

Cottage - definitely an iced coffee afternoon. It's so nice to have actual summer weather. Don't forget your sunscreen!

Ruth - Hope all goes well with dogs and construction. Hope you're getting the sun too.

I love the weather this week. I sure hope my garden bounces back a little too! I scheduled morning visits the rest of the week so will get to be outside with kids, definitely a more fun way to spend the morning.

Today's cereal has the last of the dried cranberries. I've been eating hot cereal and using up last year's fruits and they are almost gone. I'll have to ration them better next year but it's been kind of fun finishing them off. I need to find some time to pick this week though because not much in the freezer yet.

Ack, there was something from yesterday I wanted to comment on but I can't remember what. This whole aging thing can be very annoying!

Okay, have a good day Chicks. Hope the sun is shining where you are

ETA:
Kierie - lovely to see your face here Can't wait to see the pics of you in that dress

Debbie - raspberry ice cubes? Do tell. Hope you got that fruit taken care of. I need to get more motivated, I let the rain slow me down too much. Hope you had a good, busy day

[femmecreole]

Morning all! Getting ready to head out to the gym and then off to school for a few hours.
I'm watching a neat video right now that may be interesting to everyone called "Big Sugar".
I think every parent should see it (thinking about the parents of my school kids this year!) I preached to the kids about what effect sugar has on their grades, moods etc last year and I'm going to push even harder this year.

One thing that absolutely FLOORS me. Our school's project each year is Relay For Life for cancer research. Ok, so how is one way the school raises money for this? Sells candy before school. Kids are literally out in the hall before school scarfing down candy which can CAUSE or help cancer cells to grow. Ironic???

[Ruthxxx]

Back, "coffee"d and dressed but no contractor yet. Today I am going to try to get back into routine as much as possible. Last week was a bit of a muddle with too much work-watching - no, they didn't take their shirts off!

Back into the routine of pet visits this afternoon and I am going to attempt a visit with both dogs at the nursing home. I may be able to use a volunteer to handle Jazz - he basically gets passed from lap to lap anyhow. If the weather holds, I plan to plant some peas for a fall crop and maybe more greens. Some quilt planning is on the to do list as well.

I hope your day is spattered with summer joys - berries, melon, sunshine, soft breezes, flowers - all the good stuff!

[TwynnB]

Good morning chicks!

Cat - the sugar thing. My neighbor, at 36 years old, is often (always?) in the top three in local running races. WOW! I finally know a real runner! And then....she has boxes and boxes of "yogos" and "fruit gushers" and stuff like that that her kids CONSTANTLY eat. Kinda threw me for a loop. My kids now read the sugar amount on nearly everything. Kinda funny for them! I'll have to watch that video.

Everyone else - good morning! Hope it is a beautiful one for you!

I'm actually a little glad it's TOM - that will at least explain that horrid weight gain in the past few days!! Work has been very busy, and home life busy too...so I've lost time for exercising. So, I finally told myself I need to get up in the morning to work out. Today was day 2 on the treadmill! Yeah!! Except I get a little hyper at work after that . But, it feels good to get it out of the way.

South beach has gone well too lately. I was getting into the habit of having (off plan!) desserts, and that's been abolished again. I'm quite happy with a handful of strawberries or cashews .

HOpe you have a great day...it is beautiful here!

[Lexxiss]

Oh, I just had my first sip of coffee and its heavenly Thanks, Cottage. Boy did Ruth and I ever sleep in. Actually, I woke up at 1:30 and said No Not today. Too bad, because I have alot to do before my 7:30 water aerobics. I could always come home after class but I usually go to the diner with our dog evaluator and have the meeting before the meeting

Ruth, May you settle back into your routine with ease. May your patients receive joy from your dogs. May your food choices be healthy, and may only the cute guys take off their shirts. A slight shift from the traditional Irish Blessing.

Cottage, I hope you take advantage of a dip in the pool. These summer days are getting shorter. Enjoy that iced coffee later. I think it will be quite warm today.

Cyndi, on Sunday I switched my ring to the opposite hand to remember something. I've since moved it back. My fist thought this AM was "I wish I could remember what I needed to remember!"
Raspberry ice cubes. You might recall I am set on a morning smoothie. My mixture is super charged and carries me through. I usually add a bit of fruit for flavor/nutrition. I've decided to make enough RIC's to last all year. I have the freezer space. I just take my day's pickins, mash a bit, and spoon into trays. I already have over 200. Slow food...a new choice for me to keep my food closer to home.

Cat, your story is very ironic and at the heart of the sugar/obesity problem. I think its so out of control that there's not much to change it. I used to pass alot of junk off on my neighbor kids and I'm feeling less and less inclined to do that. At Bible School this summer, my friend did all the preplanning. Sugar and white flour. All week. Next summer I'm going to jump in early. Enjoy your day.

Twynn, glad to hear you're back running again. And good for you cutting out those off plan desserts. You're right something healthier can be just as satisfying.

Have a great day everyone! I'm off to have a bit more coffee.

[Kim_Star060404]

Good morning, everyone! I'm starting property inspections this week, so if I don't get in here early, I probably won't be in at all!


Cottage: Enjoy the dip in the pool. If I could swim every day, I would! Have a wonderful day!

Ruth: Glad you were able to sleep late this morning. I'm sure your body just needed some extra rest. (My body needs LOTS of extra rest on Saturdays!! ) Good luck with the doggage at therapy today!

Cyndi: I hope your garden is recovering nicely. Too much rain really can be a bad thing, can't it? Enjoy your afternoons with the kids!!

Cat: I'm just now getting a hang of what havoc sugar can cause on my body, but I'm glad I'm learning now. I'll be prepared when I have kids and be able to feed them properly. Right now, I do believe I'm the only SS teacher at our church that doesn't show up each Sunday with cupcakes or cookies. My kiddos LOVE string cheese and fruit!!

Twynn: Good job figuring out that a morning workout works best for you! I used to try to work out at any old time and found that having a set regimen really keeps me consistent. Those strawberries sound yummy! One more week of P1 for me, though.

Debbie: I hope you have a great day! Our VBS was the same way, but there's no way I'll ever be afforded an opinion on what the kids should eat. That position has been firmly filled for the past 25+ years!! She'll pass the torch one day and hopefully someone with a better understanding of sugar and processed flour will step in. To me it's especially important since our VBS is at night. All those kids, leaving the church at 8 pm, hopped up on sugar!


Okay, I need to get going if the dishes are to be done before work. I hope everyone has a great day!!

[KO]

Debbie you rock "May only the Cute guys Take off their shirts!"
your rasp cubes sound divine. . .I think when I sidle into ph 2 I'm going to get some frozen berries
Twyn woohoo Day 2 treadmill! I've had 3 successful days of moving my arse so I'm right there with you
Ruth Glad your day is off to a good start!! Jazz is a very lucky lap pup. . .My kitty spin was hounding me this AM for massive snuggles but no work no kibble so I'm here instead of there
Cat I think sugar is the opiate of the masses honestly it's the "good stuff"
Cyn outside with Kiddos sounds so nice! Good to be here
Cottage I love fresh raspberries! enjoy them!!

Well I was ravenous last night I checked daily plate and realized why I had about 1000 calories not enough for functioning! so I am shooting for 1200 to keep the carb monster at bay
Tonight should be a challenge its national night out so we'll be going to a bbq prolly at the FD I'm goign to have a bunless burger and hopefully they have a salad not laden in fat! and no goodies!
we hit the grocery yesterday and dh got me reduced sugar pb its not compliant it has molasses but it only has 2 g of sugar so I tried it in my cookie monster frenzy (happily there were no cookies to inhale) it was good and not too sweet. . .going to stick that in the cupboard for defcon 2

I'm holding off on the fibro drugs until I can talk to the doc about what to try
I'm also going to pop into the depression forum to ask if any1 has taken cymbalta. . .1 of the side effects is losing interest in dh and that's not something I want to happen.
ok back to the salt mines!
Kierie

[Kim_Star060404]

Okay, I'm back for a bit. My coworker that is doing inspections has to eat breakfast, so we're not leaving for a bit.

Kierie: Sounds like you've found a great option to replace the cookies! Good luck tonight at the BBQ!


Me: Things are going well here! Day 9 of P1 and so far I've dropped 6 lbs! Woohoo! I weighed in at 175 yesterday, my halfway point, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke, so I weighed in this morning and it was the same. Woohoo!! Since this is probably my millionth time on P1, I was just hoping for a loss of 3 lbs. for the entire two weeks. I'm looking forward to moving to P2 next week, but I'm going to take it very slowly.

I'll be out in the field every day this week, so I was a bit worried about snacks. I prepped lots of veggies last night and have a mini-cooler with some celery, hummus and string cheese in it for my morning snack. Thank goodness for that! Usually we end up stopping in convenience stores for food, so I won't have to worry about that this time around.

Alright, off to check out what properties we're doing today. I hope everyone to come has a great day!!

[Xan]

Hi! Good afternoon all I didn't log on this morning. I'm cleaning out closets and corners in my apartment -- it looks like the After in a tornado photo shoot. A We Haul Your Junk truck is coming Thursday to take out some old furniture, and movers are bringing in some of my late mother's furniture next week, so that's what I'll be doing. Not fun, not interesting, but very (achew!!! cough cough) dusty

Ruth, when you said take your dogs to the nursing home I thought you meant a nursing home FOR dogs!

Loved all the posts on sugar -- I lived on sugar as a child. Bread, milk and brown sugar; white bread with butter and sugar; Cream of Wheat with butter and sugar. I was a pickie eater, and those three things were about the only things I would eat except, of course, Hershey bars

No weight loss today (which is fine. One of the reasons my doctor wanted me to start with fruit is so that I would NOT lose too quickly, and I lost 5 pounds the first two days). Bacon and eggs for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and leftovers for dinner. No cravings. Lots of water.

Have a great afternoon!

[Barb0522]

I am way behind on reading posts after going on my 4 night cruise. I tried to post a picture but it's too large so I'm not sure how to get around that. I had a wonderful time. Don and I are still just friends but we had a blast dancing and socializing and we stayed together almost every minute. The 4-5 hour car ride each way was spent singing along to all sorts of songs. I think this was worth every penny that we spent (including the money we lost in the ship's casino). The food was wonderful and I loved how I looked on the elegant night. Don said I looked gorgeous which is just what I wanted to hear. We made so many new friends. I didn't gain or lose any weight which is fine with me. I went off plan for a few desserts but ate mainly lean seafood and lots of fruits and vegetables and the desserts haven't caused any cravings. I wish we could have kept cruising but I guess we had to get back to the real world.

[jrizzle]

Good morning!

Cottage, swimming and salad sound fantastic today. We're in the 100's or very near it here.

Cyndi, your dried cranberries sound delish!

Cat, those candy fundraisers are a bad deal all the way around. Yes, it's easy to sell, but way too easy for the kids to overindulge!

Ruth, I hope your pet visits go well with both dogs.

Kierie, I have found that I get ravenous with too few calories also. Glad you figured out what the problem was. Do you not like natural PB? It has only 1 gram of sugar.

Kim, what kind of property inspections are you doing? I used to work in commercial real estate finance and did a fair number myself. The middle of the summer is not a fun time to be doing those in Texas!

Xan, when you finish cleaning out our closets, I have a few that could use some love. I want to encourage you to take your measurements too, because when the scale isn't moving, you still get to see progress!

**Barb - the cruise sounds amazing! I look forward to getting to "know" you.

I don't have a lot of plans today. I need to fold some laundry and go into town to pick up a book a friend is lending me. I forgot about my fingerprinting appointment yesterday and have rescheduled it for today. The school district where I substitute teach is requiring all employees be fingerprinted, so if I want to work next year, I better get it done!

Yesterday was another great day. Today is day 9 of phase 1 for me and things seem to be rocking along nicely. Have a wonderful Tuesday, everyone!

-Jasmine

[KO]

Barb your vacay sounds dreamy can't wai to see pics!!
Jasmine i usually only eat natural PB but Dh and i split the list up and I didn't see what PB he picked up till we got home so i'll make the best of it
Have a great day 9

[Chelby29]

Hi Guys!

It's been a wild and crazy day, but it's all good. Schmoodle didn't get out of her meeting last night till after 5, so she didn't get to come to Jazzercise. Hopefully, she'll get out earlier today.

Only three more 'sleeps' till our trip to Louisiana. Auston is in count-down mode. We have to leave home at 4:30 Friday morning for a 6 a.m. flight. I'm already tired!

It's hot in the office today. All that frozen fruit sounds yummy!

Hope your day is going great!